By Andreas Vollbrechtshausen
The future has finally begun at the Dragonerareal. The dilapidated area behind the tax office on Mehringdamm is to become a modern city district.
So far, car workshops and handicraft businesses have been housed there. The plans for 4.7 hectares of the finest inner-city location were presented on Monday.
Barracks in the southern part are currently being demolished as a first step to make room for five residential buildings with 240 apartments. According to plans by the central housing association (WBM), the first tenants could move in in 2027.
New buildings are being built around the listed Adlerhalle (centre). Photo: SMAQ Architecture
When asked by the BZ why it was all taking so long, the responsible building councilor Florian Schmidt (47, Greens) replied: “What is being built here should be a model for future construction. We want to create something good. A year or two doesn’t matter.” The mix of housing, business and services should be exemplary.
In order to take everyone’s interests into account, time-consuming fine-tuning is required for every issue. Because here everything has to be coordinated in such a way that the different interests don’t get in each other’s way. For example, handicraft businesses or the supermarket on Obentrautstrasse must not disturb the peace and quiet of the tenants.
City Councilor Florian Schmidt (Greens) presenting the plans Photo: Peter Mueller
The listed old and new riding halls have to be renovated from the ground up and converted in such a way that a youth club and a day care center can be accommodated there. A 16-storey building is being raised right next to it. A total of 470 new apartments are to be built by 2030, 50 percent of which will be state-subsidised.
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Business people are to be accommodated in a new commercial block with four to five floors. This also applies to the companies that are currently located on the site. In 2015 there were 14 establishments including the Gretchen Club. Four of them have already found alternative locations and are unlikely to return, according to Pamela Schobeß, spokeswoman for the trades.
The listed buildings are being renovated, with new buildings placed in between Photo: SMAQ Architecture
By early 2020, three planning teams had worked out their designs for the new district. The winning design has now been adjusted in numerous details. An exhibition on the urban development concept on the Dragonera site has been on display on the fence at the back of the tax office for around two months since Monday.
Barracks for the mounted infantry (hence the name) were built on the site in 1850. And in the 1920s it served as a parking lot with its large garages.
So now a new era is to be ushered in once again. Only: it just takes a while.
